Facebook facelift: The new News Feed

Mark Zuckerberg announces a redesign of Facebook's News Feed during a press conference at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Mark Zuckerberg announces a redesign of Facebook's News Feed during a press conference at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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Facebook redesigned news feed will rebuild each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing.

Facebook redesigned news feed will rebuild each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing.

Photo: Facebook

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park. Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park. Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed.

Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

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To make sure facebook users see all the stories they want to see, facebook introducing several new feeds to explore in addition to the same News Feed you have today. They include: All Friends, Photos, Music and Following - a feed with the latest news from the Pages you like and the people you follow. less

To make sure facebook users see all the stories they want to see, facebook introducing several new feeds to explore in addition to the same News Feed you have today. They include: All Friends, Photos, Music ... more

Photo: Facebook

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Mark Zuckerberg (second from left) sits with Chris Struhar (left), tech lead as they listen to Julie Zhuo (not shown), director of design speak during a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif. less

Mark Zuckerberg (second from left) sits with Chris Struhar (left), tech lead as they listen to Julie Zhuo (not shown), director of design speak during a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News ... more

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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Mark Zuckerberg announces a redesign of Facebook's News Feed during a press conference at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Mark Zuckerberg announces a redesign of Facebook's News Feed during a press conference at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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With the new design, now Facebook has the same look and feel on mobile, tablet and web.

With the new design, now Facebook has the same look and feel on mobile, tablet and web.

Photo: Facebook

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed, the place where its 1 billion users congregate to see what's happening with their friends, family and favorite businesses.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed, the place where its 1 billion users congregate to see what's happening with their friends, family and favorite businesses.

Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

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Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during an event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park on Thursday.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during an event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park on Thursday.

Photo: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on Thursday. He unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed, the place where its 1 billion users congregate to see what's happening with their friends, family and favorite businesses. less

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on Thursday. He unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed, the place where its 1 billion users congregate to see what's ... more

Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

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Mark Zuckerberg (second from left) stands with Chris Struhar (left), tech lead and Julie Zhuo (second from right), director of design as Chris Cox (right), vice president of product speaks during a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday in Menlo Park. less

Mark Zuckerberg (second from left) stands with Chris Struhar (left), tech lead and Julie Zhuo (second from right), director of design as Chris Cox (right), vice president of product speaks during a press ... more

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a media event at Facebook's Headquarters office in Menlo Park, California on March 7, 2013. Today, Facebook announced updates to their News Feed.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a media event at Facebook's Headquarters office in Menlo Park, California on March 7, 2013. Today, Facebook announced updates to their News Feed.

Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images

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Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during an event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park about the social-network site's upgraded News Feed which includes bigger photos, information sorted into topics and a more consistent design across devices. less

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during an event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park about the social-network site's upgraded News Feed which includes ... more

Photo: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Thursday, March 7, 2013. Zuckerberg on Thursday unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Thursday, March 7, 2013. Zuckerberg on Thursday unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed.

Mark Zuckerberg (center) speaks to a media after a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Mark Zuckerberg (center) speaks to a media after a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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Mark Zuckerberg (center) speaks to a media after a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Mark Zuckerberg (center) speaks to a media after a press conference where a redesign of Facebook's News Feed was announced at it's headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

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Facebook facelift: The new News Feed

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Facebook Thursday introduced a major facelift for its News Feed that places greater emphasis on the photos and other visual elements that its members have increasingly been posting.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the biggest redesign of the News Feed since it was introduced in 2006 will make it more “visually rich and engaging.”

The News Feed, the centerpiece of the Facebook experience, started as mostly text-based posts, but since 2011, more than half of the posts by its users are of photos, video and other visual elements.

“We really are taking these photos and putting them front and center,” said Julie Zhou, Facebook’s design director.

The changes are being rolled out slowly to Facebook’s more than 1 billion members around the world so the Menlo Park company can gather feedback.

That feedback could be considerable, since in the past, even minor tweaks have caused members to complain and even threaten to quit the social network.

In a press conference in the company’s Menlo Park headquarters, Facebook demonstrated the new News Feed, which will give the social network a more uniform look across desktop PCs, mobile phones and tablets.

The change will keep the basic three-column format, but will give more real estate to the main column in the center, with photos displayed about 50 percent larger.

The navigation column on the left side of the page will be narrower, with mobile phone-style app icons linking main activities and heavily used apps. The left bar includes a calendar icon familiar to smartphone users.

The running news ticker, a live feed of posts and comments that friends are making, will be consolidated into the left navigation column.

The left column won’t be customizable at first, but the top of the right-hand column will include customizable quick links such as “all friends” that pulls up posts from friends into the center column.

That will also include quick links to songs or artists that a member’s network is posting.

Facebook executives compared it to a newspaper having sections like sports or business that readers can pull out and read right away.

The right-hand column will continue to display advertising and other sponsored content, but will look more like a smaller, secondary news feed.

The design seems to leave room for more visual advertising content as well, which down the line could be vital for Facebook as it tries to placate investors and generate more revenue from ads without them being overly intrusive.

Chris Cox, Facebook’s vice president of product, said the facelift is a “very mobile-inspired design.” That’s also key to the company’s future, since more than half of its members are now going to the site via a mobile device.

Cox said company is introducing the new News Feed to some members immediately, but wants to gather feedback before rolling it out to everyone.

“We’re going to be very, very careful and slow about how we roll it out,” he said.